New Festival for New Brighton

This isn’t a new festival for Brighton…it’s a festival for New Brighton, up on The Wirral.

The New Brighton Seaside Festival embraces a modern vision for the area and has developed an eclectic programme aimed at appealing to locals and visitors alike.

A huge line up of live music sees traditional sea shanties, knee-slapping fiddles and even some rock-a-billy action for good measure.

Visitors can expect everything from storytelling to Oyster shucking competitions to a pirate puppy parade.

An artisan market of unique arts and crafts will let shop-a-holics dive into a paradise of homemade jewelleries, home-ware and trinkets, and throughout the day people are invited to get involved with mouth-watering cookery demonstrations and delve into a range of interactive workshops.

Breathing in the fresh seaside air, festival-goers can take their pick from a plethora of springtime, Seafood-themed menus and bars.

An undercover seating will provide guests some shade whilst sampling the finest local craft beer or maybe dabbling in a cocktail class or two… all while while the children are kept entertained by the Punch and Judy.

Man and the Echo, The Shipbuilders, Marc Kenny and Nick Ellis are among the artists performing during the inaugural three-day event in May.

The festival will take place over the Spring Bank Holiday, 27th – 29th May at Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton Beach, Marine Lake and Promenade in New Brighton.

Wirral Radio will be a Media Partner for the event.

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Headlining the Saturday night is Man and the Echo.

Their debut album skirts numerous musical signposts, spanning the likes of The Smiths, Dexys, Pulp, 50/60s crooning, blue-eyed soul and so much more. Catch them topping the Main Stage with political, literary ideas and pop and disco hooks that’ll get everyone dancing on the day.

Is gypsy scouse surf a thing…? If it isn’t, The Shipbuilders are the band who want to change things…

Emerging out of nearby Liverpool, The Shipbuilders bring together a weird and wonderful mixture of influences to create something truly fresh and unique. Gaining a reputation as one of the must-see bands in a city well-populated by fantastic acts, The Shipbuilders are not to be missed when they grace the Main Stage late on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday will also see local New Brighton-born singer songwriter Marc Kenny entertaining the crowds. Marc has been a resident artist at The Cavern Club for over six years and has played the famous venue more times than The Beatles!

The Psych/Folk outfit Seafoam Green will be performing tracks from their debut album Topaga Mansion. Joining them throughout the day will be Button Street Badger Band, Rock Choir Merseyside (the local branch of the UK’s most popular contemporary choir – with over 500 members across the region), self-taught guitarist and singer Lucy Mayhew, Wirral band Black Mountain Lights and Liv Pritchard.

Sunday night sees the bill topped by Liverpool’s own ukulele trio The Grateful Fred and the local talent continues with Nick Ellis, singer-songwriter and guitarist performing a style of streetscape narrative-noir blended with a modern British acoustic approach. No nonsense, song and melody is the order of the day. Some people call it folk; some just call it good old fashioned song craft.

Also performing will be The Swingin’ Bricks, a firestorm of fuzzed up Mersey rock n’ roll, double bass and blues thunder. They quickly established themselves as one of Liverpool’s hardest working and most popular bands. On their night, they’ll tear your legs, ears, minds, souls and throats to pieces and you’ll thank them for it.

17–year-old singer songwriter Eleanor Nelly will be on the Main Stage alongside Only Child and Elfin Bow, performing new tracks at the festival! Her music has been described as a fairy tale experience for grown-ups; pastoral psych-folk with an undercurrent of electronic ambience. A storyteller of the finest kind, with a voice that is as vulnerable as it is strong; she weaves together art and music in a way that is truly captivating.

Alison Benson is another singer songwriter from Liverpool and she joins the line-up this spring. Inspired by the wonderful music of Simon and Garfunkel, her musical style is rooted in folk, with a love of The Beatles thrown in for good measure. Arcadian Driftwood, singer songwriter Marc Pouteny and SingMe Merseyside complete the line-up for Sunday!

Closing the festival on is Marc Kenny with his second set of the weekend. If you didn’t catch him first time round, be sure not to miss your chance on Monday night.

Joining Marc on Monday is Splintered Ukes. Skilful masters of reengineering classic and modern pop songs. From Stealer’s Wheel to the Stereo MCs there’s something for everyone. Colours to suite all, whether it be Little Green Bag, Fisherman’s Blues, Brown Eyed Girl or you wanna go Back to Black, they can do it all. Whether you prefer Dancing in the Dark or Dancing in the Moonlight, you’ll definitely be dancing and that’s what counts!

Singer Jade Tremarco joins the already stellar line up. Jade’s music is elegant, simple and clean which has only been accentuated by the local legendary musicians she has worked with including Brian “Saxophone” Jones from The Undertakers, The Christians, The Swinging Blue Jeans and The Gary Murphy Band.

The Button Street Badger Band and SingMe Merseyside make their second performances of the festival on the Sunday and are joined by Americana duo Limerance. Playing original songs with heartfelt, optimistic and interesting lyrics, they have a growing repertoire of original music. Limerance successfully reached their goal of 100+ performances before Christmas (having only formed in August) which gained them a loyal following across Liverpool.

New Brighton Seaside Festival is organised by Orb Events, a Liverpool-based events agency with a strong proven track record in staging major city events and festivals.

Promising a cocktail of live entertainment, amazing street food, chef demos, family activities and a host of seaside-themed attractions – this exciting addition to the region’s event calendar is not to be missed.

The Festival begins at 10am each day from Saturday, May 27 to Monday, May 29. With a varied and interactive programme across three days, the weekend is guaranteed to put a spring in the step of family visitors just in time for the Bank Holiday break.

Dom Elmore, production and event manager, for the festival said:“We’re all delighted with the response so far, there’s been so much great feedback and it’s sure to be a fantastic weekend for all at New Brighton.

“As you can see from the music line up we’ve been busy designing a programme to fit this stunning location with something on offer for everyone. Whether you’re visiting with your children, coming along with the whole family or just heading over for a day out to catch some rays with lots of amazing food, drink and main stage entertainment to enjoy – then do not miss this one!”

Liverpool musician Marc Kenny added:“Really looking forward to be performing at New Brighton Seaside Festival – it’s definitely going to be an amazing few days!

“I love playing to home crowds, so playing on my doorstep was a no brainer. New Brighton has the most incredible views, so to be on stage looking out onto the Mersey Estuary in the bank holiday sunshine will be a special gig.

“On both of the days I am there, I’ll be performing lots of my original material, and I can’t wait to see everyone by the beach.”